Artillery unit a common bond in Kane’s Raiders

The Times photo by Betsy Reason
Kane’s Raiders -- Lynn Wilson (from left), Jim Bellamy, Bill Carter, Ron Louks, Ron Scott, David Snead (back, standing), John Beardsley and Joe Coonce -- a group of former soldiers of Battery C 2nd Battalion 150th Field Artillery Battalion of the U.S. Army, part of the 38th infantry division in Indiana, were all local with the National Guard when it was here in Noblesville in the old Armory. They gathered for a reunion on Sunday afternoon at Forest Park.

“Any soldier who has been in any type of military has a story,” Bill Carter said.
The 83-year-old Arcadia sat on the top of a picnic table at Forest Park Shelter No. 4, after eating Jim Dandy fried chicken, looking in the face of his fellow soldiers.

He helped start Kane’s Raiders almost 20 years.

It’s a group of guys who served in Battery C 2nd Battalion 150th Field Artillery Battalion of the U.S. Army, part of the 38th infantry division in Indiana. The battalion’s roots go back to World War I and World War II.

Carter, who was recently diagnosed with liver cancer, was wanting to make sure that he got to tell his stories at his annual reunion of Kane’s Raiders on Sunday afternoon.
Carter, born and raised in Sharpsville, graduated in Carmel High School in 1954 and lives west of Arcadia. He was 56 when he went into the service for more than two years. He had a year deferment and then went to Georgia and spent about six months there, came home. He and Shirley Burnham, a 1954 Jackson Central High School graduate, then got married. After raising a family, he got back into the National Guard in Noblesville for about 20 years. He was a gun chief for a while, then gunnery sergeant and chief in charge of all of the units, then first sergeant. He was the first sergeant when the old Noblesville Armory on Logan Street went out and the new Armory on Field Drive opened. He spent about 12 years in the National Guard Reserves.
What he enjoyed most, he said, “I think, for the most part, it was the camaraderie.” He liked going to Camp Ripley in Minnesota and Camp Grayling in Michigan. “That was a fun time. Most of the guys that are here were all together in the same unit,” Carter said. “It’s been an exciting career … The camaraderie each individual and I have is the most important.”

Being back together, he said, “It really feels good.”
Carter helped start the group in 2000. “It’s been around for a while. We just don’t get much notoriety, which is fine, good. I don’t care.” He said, “I have stories I want to tell,” he said to the group. “Once I start telling my stories, it will resin with them, and they will remember some stories that they can tell.”

Besides the yearly reunion, Kane’s Raiders meet for breakfast at Perkins in Noblesville on the fourth Saturday of every month and also have a holiday dinner in January.

“We sit around and tell war stories, lies, whichever is best,” said Carter, the oldest member in attendance.
Lynn Wilson, 69, Lebanon, a retired truck driver, was the youngest. He served 1970-91. “I was at Noblesville most of my career, then I moved over to Lebanon unit,” he said. He was a 1st sergeant and was there for four years, putting in 18 years. He likes to meet up with old buddies. “I’ve known these guys for years. We work well together,” Wilson said. They talk about “old times” and “politics.”
A smiling Joe Coonce, 78, Noblesville, chimed in, “And sometimes you can’t say.”

He said they talk about “Some of the silly stuff they did when we were on duty. Some of the stories are true, some of them not true.”
He attended Noblesville High School and left school at age 18 to join the National Guard, Battery B. “I had a friend that did join, and I went with him. We were on the buddy plan and never did see each other,” he said. “My intention was to just to join the Guard and do my three years and get out,” he said, but he liked military life and ended up serving 25 years in the military. Coonce went to the U.S. Army for 5-½ years and then to the U.S. Air Force. During his time of service, he traveled all over the world, including France, Taiwan, Okinawa, Thailand and Vietnam. He earned his General Education Diploma (GED) in 1969, at age 28, just after serving in the U.S. Air Force. Coonce then went back for 16 years to the National Guard from which he retired. He later retired, again, in 2006 from his civilian job as custodian for Noblesville Schools.
Ron Louks, 73, Fishers, was born and raised in Cicero, graduated in 1964 from Jackson Central High School and retired from Noblesville Police Department, after serving as a road officer and community service officer. His wife, Nancy, is retired Noblesville Fire Department chief secretary. He was drafted in 1965 and went into the U.S. Army, then came back out and got into the National Guard for 10 years in Noblesville. He relocated to Arizona and took a police agency job there. Then came back to Noblesville about 10 years later.

“I’m back together with some of the guys here,” said Louks, who likes getting together with the guys. He enjoys the comradery and fellowship. “We started this many, many, many years ago. We’ve lost some; lost a couple this year, actually.”
Jim Bellamy, 76, Cicero, spent two years active duty in Germany and 12 years in the National Guard and 10 years in the Army Reserve. “I was with them in the National Guard here in Noblesville.”
John Beardsley, 71, was battery commander in 1974-76 at the Noblesville Armory. “We had such a great experience in the National Guard,” he said.
“We talk about old times and all kinds of stuff,” said Ron Scott, 71, president of the group. “We talk about all of our experiences … From everything from when we were in basic training. Being in the Army National Guard, you’re part of the Army Reserve forces. We all went to basic training and AIT (Advanced Individual Training) and our MOS (military occupational specialty), which ours was artillery … We talk about annual training and the monthly excursions down to Atterbury that we live fired with the 155 mm ...”

Most of the members wore red Kane’s Raiders T-shirts with their names printed on them. Scott, who sported a red Kane’s Raiders hat, told about the club’s beginnings.
“We, collectively, started this Kane’s Raiders,” Scott said. “... It’s just our own club that we created.”

Kane’s Raiders is named in memory of 1st Sgt. Edward Kane, their battery senior non-commissioned officers for a long period of time. “When we came into this unit, he was the first sergeant … He was the guy that taught us an awful lot. We all had a lot of respect for him. He helped further our careers in the National Guard. He was just a wonderful guy,” Scott said.

Who are the Kane’s Raiders?
“We’re supportive of all of the military,” he said.
“We were all in the Army National Guard, but some of the guys were in the U.S. Navy, Army or Marines prior to being here,” he said.

“We were all local with the National Guard when it was here, especially when it was on Logan Street in the old Armory,” Scott said. Located on the west end of Logan Street next to White River, the old Armory was the first Armory constructed in 1928 to house a horse-drawn artillery unit. That location was razed in 1987 after a new Armory was built at 2021 Field Drive.
The Zionsville native joined the Noblesville Unit because there was no unit in Zionsville and, at the time, the unit in Lebanon was full. He served 1970-1991 with the Noblesville unit. Scott moved in 1979 to Greencastle as the 1st sergeant and became command sergeant major of the battalion that included Noblesville, Lebanon, Greencastle and two units in Bloomington and a unit in Spencer.

Scott said, “They’ve reorganized the Army National Guard statewide. The unit that was here (in Noblesville) combined with the unit at Lebanon, which is also artillery. Now, there’s no unit here in Noblesville.”
-Contact Betsy Reason at betsy@thetimes24-7.com.